SHILLONG: Taking a tough stand following the recent attack on policemen in Garo Hills, the State Police have resolved to take down the proscribed GNLA within three months’ time through their modified drills and mechanisms.
The statement comes from none other than IGP in-charge of Administration and Operation GHP Raju. Raju on Tuesday said that the GNLA will be neutralized in the next three months with the Police department preparing to come up with strategized plans to take down the outfit.
He also mentioned that the State is looking towards the Home Affairs Ministry for adequate manpower to contain the situation in Garo Hills. “We need the help of the CRPF and BSF personnel who are trained in jungle warfare,” he said adding that at present, the State has about six units of COBRA teams operating in the region.
Terming GNLA as a ‘gang of dacoits’, the senior police official said, “The Northeast militant ) outfits have a set of ideologies, but GNLA does not follow any such ideology except killing and extortion.” Stating that the government is determined to take on GNLA, Raju said, “We have identified our soft points and our limitations in terms of resources, manpower and training and considering the hostility of the militant-infested region, we have adopted a mechanism to adapt to the conditions and to devise drills which enhances our fighting capabilities in the hostile terrain.”
Commenting on the recent killing of five police personnel at South Garo Hills, Raju said that as per credible sources, GNLA chief Sohan D Shira is livid with the police, for raiding his residence on many occasions. “He swore to avenge but we will do our duty and we accept the professional hazards a police officer faces in a militant-infested terrain like Garo Hills,” he added. According to the IGP law and order, Sohan operates especially from East Garo Hills and he takes full advantage of the terrain where almost 80 per cent of the areas are covered by think jungle and reserve forests devoid of habitation and negligible police presence.
Subordinates failed to follow security drills
Introspecting into similar incidents which have happened in the past Raju said that in most cases the sub-ordinate staff failed to follow the security drill while on the move.
“No doubt that we have had our own setbacks because of limitations in many fields,” he said adding that it is unfortunate that there are some subordinate staffs who do not pay heed to the security drills laid while on the move.
“This is one issue which needs to be addressed intensively to sensitize the police at the grassroot level to follow the security drills, so as to deny Sohan and the GNLA an opportunity to hit at the police,” Raju said.
The IGP law and order said that the total strength of the GNLA is around 200 out of which about 30-40 are armed cadres while over a 100 are over ground workers who provide intelligence inputs on the movements of the police.
“I can say authentically that there is dissolution with the way Sohan amasses rebels at the cost of other Garo youth. He has no ideologies except making money,” he said adding that the approach of the GNLA chief for ceasefire agreement last month is an indication that he has collected adequate money. When asked about the procurement of arms and weapons, Raju said that the weapons used by the GNLA are procured from Kokrajhar, Assam through the anti-faction of ULFA, NDFB smugglers from Dimapur, Manipur and Bangladesh who made it a flourishing business to supply arms to the GNLA.